H.E. Rogers, Fanbase Press Guest Contributor

I have always really loved the film, Napoleon Dynamite. It came out when I was a teen, and I saw it in the tiny, independent movie theater in my hometown. I think my brother and I saw it three times in theaters; we liked it so much - the subtlety of the humor, the slightly retro vibe. It was also made by a couple of Mormon kids which we were at the time. It was a pop culture phenomenon I could finally talk about openly at church without getting unsolicited opinions from overly righteous adults. We were borderline obsessed. At one point when I was in Idaho (were they filmed the movie), I went and drove by some of the houses and locations, including what used to be a Liger farm. I also ate a lot of tater tots. So, it's safe to say I am, and always have been, a fan which is why I was so excited to read this new story, Napoleon Dynamite: Impeach Pedro.

I have waited months after the sold-out first issue to read the second installment of Image Comics' Victorian Gothic tale, Mercy. A small recap for issue #1: The mysterious Lady Hellaine has arrived in Woodsburgh, where the town is being terrified by “The Woodburgh Devil” whose victim list is getting longer and longer. Hellaine meets the intelligent Widow Swanson, a witty woman who also seems to be hiding something.

I can honestly say I have never read anything like it. The title is referring to a group of people who are, you guessed it, ludicrous aristocrats. I myself have read most of Gillen’s work and have always been a fan, which is why I wanted to pick this new issue up. But I have to say, this isn’t my cup of tea.

Let me preface this with the fact that I have been reading Snotgirl since day 1. I have been obsessed since I read an early edition of the first issue. It is one of the few titles I have never taken off my pull list at the local comic shop. From the first page, I was completely entranced by Leslie Hung’s art and by the terrible person that is Lottie Person, famous fashion blogger. I am an addict and a supplier, because I have successfully gotten many others addicted so that I have someone to talk to about my addiction.

This is not your typical coming-of-age story; it is so much more. It's a 1990s period piece with summer fun, supernatural elements, and some LGBTQ romance. Elodie, a teen in 1994, doesn’t want to be a camp counselor in the summer before college; she wants to hang with her best friend. But in order to pay for her first year of college (Remember when you could do that with a summer job?), she had to leave normal society and spend her summer with a bunch of kids in the woods. Elodie has no idea what she is in for. Camp is going to be a lot different than she thought, and certainly not boring.

Growing up, my mother would go through different “kicks,” as she would put it. For one six-month period, it was all Jane Austen movies and books, and then Norse mythology. The longest "kick" - and the one I found the most interesting - was her Arthurian period, where she became obsessed with all things related to King Arthur lore. During this time, she read books like Mists of Avalon and watched many on-screen versions of the stories with me by her side. Once I was old enough, she let me read T.H. White’s Once and Future King which I inhaled. Let me just say that the new title from BOOM! Studios, Once & Future, is definitely not a retelling of the classic story, but a modern twist on the classic lore that is King Aurthur.

I love a good, real-life twist in a superhero comic, and Stealth gives me just that. For decade,s we have read superhero stories, and, after a while, they tend to get repetitive and stale. It takes a twist like putting Daredevil in jail or letting Doc Ock take over Peter Parker's body to give it life again.

Who doesn’t love a good ghost story? The Jim Henson's The Storyteller series does it again with a new series of ghost stories. If you are not familiar with this line through BOOM! Studios, it is a series of short stories told by a character called ”the storyteller” with his faithful dog at his side, listening to his tales. The stories themselves do, in fact, come from The Jim Henson Company and continue to carry the torch of telling touching, mythical fairy tales (like The Dark Crystal).

This is not your typical murder-in-a-small-town-type of story. I mean, sure, there is murder, and, yes, it happens in a seemingly typical small town, but there is so much more to Something Is Killing the Children. Children all over Archer’s Peak are disappearing and dying. Young James is the sole survivor of a sleepover gone bad, where something killed his best friends. Now an outcast, James comes across a mysterious stranger who shows up asking him detailed questions about that fearful night. Her name is Erica Slaughter, and she kills monsters.

There is a real shortage of Victorian gothic-style comics, so color me thrilled that Image has a brand new one hitting the stands this week. The first issue of Mercy is full of gorgeous art, strong female characters, and is a titillating setup for what feels like a new Image must read.